By notifying five-phase Assembly polls 2019, the Election Commission has of India has become a subject of criticism in Jharkhand. Sunil Arora, Chief Election Commissioner had made public the ECI's decision in New Delhi on Friday.

On Saturday, the prime opposition party JMM Acting president and ex-CM Hemant Soren met RJD chief Lalu Yadav at RIMS, Ranchi where he is undergoing imprisonment in fodder scam cases in which he was a convict.

Both Yadav and Soren who were critical of the ECI for holding the Assembly polls in five phases in Jharkhand are learnt to have discussed ways to formulate poll ties with JMM-Congress and RJD. Though no announcement was made by any one of them, they preferred to reiterate their criticism against the ECI.

More, responding to the EC's move, almost all opposition parties and their leaders who seem to have joined hands in raising relevant questions over its decision to hold the Assembly polls in five phases beginning with notification of the first phase on November 6 and ending with fifth phase poll on December 20.

However, the CEC is on record saying 100 per cent electorates have ID cards. The state has 29464 polling booths with a total number of electorates 2.27 crore out of a total population of 3.29 crore in Jharkhand.

Of total 81 seats,28 seats were reserved for Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes. In comparison to 2014, percentage of electorates has increased by 20 per cent, said CEC defending ECI's decision to hold the polls in five phases. Out of 24 districts 19 districts fall in Naxal infested areas. Among them, 13 districts were 'worst' affected.

As a result, he said. the Centre has decided to deploy 70 companies of paramilitary forces. More, to contain the use of black money,34 Income Tax officers are going to be deployed, he said.

In the past, the BJP government led by Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Jharkhand and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Centre had time and again claimed that they had contained Naxalite violence. Recently, the opposition leaders had in commonly demanded polls simultaneously. Their demand was not considered relevant and hence their criticism.

The state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon said;"The ECI did not accept the government's claim that Naxalism was contained by the BJP government."

The BJP government is exposed of its false claim that Naxalism is finished in Jharkhand", Jharkhand Vikas Party supremo and ex-CM Babulal Marandi.

The ECI has made it clear that this BJP government had only made claim that it had removed the Naxal problem", said JMM Spokesperson Binod Pandey.

The BJP government has no control over law and order and Naxals', said Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Anita Yadav.